Field cover



, INVENOR. LOUISJ. SCHULTHEIS BY Wm ATTORNEY 2 Sheets-Sheet l L. J.SCHULTHEIS FIELD COVER Feb. 6, 1951 Filed July 51, 1948 Feb. 6, 1951 L.J. SCHULTHEIS FIELD COVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 31, 1948 INVENTOR.LOU [S If. SCH ULTH E18 ,7 l/lV/l/ll/ lEr/l/flfll ATTORNEY Patented Feb.6, 1951 STATES Louis J Sohultheis, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor toPittsburgh Waterproof Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania I App1icationJuly31, 1948',SerialNo.41,770

rt l 4 Claims. (01. 273-27) f My -invention relates to field coversparticuview of one of the snap hooks; Fig. 5- shows a; Iarly suitablefor use on. athletic fields such as modification of the'snap hookconnection of the baseball diamonds and'football fields. This apotherfigures, and Fig. 6 is a view taken on the plication is a continuation,.in part, of my apline VI-VI'of Fig. 5.

plication Serial No. 793,969, filed December 26, 5 Portions or sectionsof a field cover are indi- 1947,n0w abandoned. cated by the numerals 8and 9. These may be Owing to the extended areas that must be promade ofcanvas duck or other material suitable tectedagainst rain, the fieldcovers have to be for turning water. The longitudinal edges of the madein sections, because of their weight and canvas strips 8 and 9 arehemmed as at to and to facilitate handling thereof. One of the prin- 10"II, and reinforcing ropes l2 are placed in the cipal objections to fieldcovers as heretofore used. hems of each section and held in place intheir that where the edges of adjacent sections meet respective sectionsbythe Stitching at H. Sim-f one another; rain water will flow from thesurilarly, the endsof the sections are hemmed face ofythe 'canvas'downwardly past the conaround reinforcing ropes I-3, and stitched atn'ected or overlapping edges-and form pools be- 16' and it. Thesereinforcements I2 and [3' are pro ne'ath the covering, which may be evenmore vided also at those edges and ends of the section s objectionablethan if no field cover at all were 8 and 9 which are not shown on thedrawings. used and the rain allowed to fall-more or less Each of thesections, adjacent to the end evenly over the entire field. Thisobjectionable thereof which is intended to have overlapping conditionfrequently is present even where the 20 or superposed relation to an endportion of an sections overlap one another for a considerable adjacentsection has a pleat I! that contains distance at zones adjacent to theirmeeting edges, a bead rope Ila and stitched at I8 and I9, leavfor thereason that wind may raise the edge-of ing flap-like extended portions26 and 2! on the the overlying section and blow rain water besections 8and 9 respectively. Grommets 22 are neath said edge, to the ground.provided along the hemmed longitudinal edges My invention has for one ofits objects the of the sections, inwardly of the reinforcing beadprovision of a field cover made in sections of l2, for the attachment ofrope handles 23. Simsuch form that rain which blows beneath the ilarly,grommets 24 and handles 25 are provided edge of a section that partlyoverlies an adjoinbehind the reinforcing ropes Ila. Looped straps ingsection will be caught in a trough-like fold so 26 are riveted to thesections 8 and 9, behind the and be thereby conducted in a lateraldirection, reinforcing beads 13, and straps 21 are provided to the edgeof the field. at the pleats l1.

Another object of my invention is to provide When the wind and rain areblowing in the field cover sections of such form that their edgesdirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the can readily be connectedin either of two relaflap 2| of section 9 will be placed upon the flaptive positions, depending upon the prevailing 20 as shown in Fig. 2 andthe sections will be direction of the wind and the rain at the timeconnected at suitable intervals by snap fasteners when the cover isbeing used, whereby the major 28 that are carried by the loops 26 andhave deportion of the water will be caught and deflected tachableconnection with rings 29 in the loops 21. as above stated. It Will beseen that the snap fasteners 28 are A further object of my invention isto provide connected to the extended flaps 20 and 2! rean improved formof handle connection for field spectively and that the links 29 areconnected covers, whereby they may be pulled and rolled to the plate ll,through the medium of the strap with minimum danger of tearing thefabric of loops 21. Therefore, no matter which way a which the coversare made. 46 section is turned, it will have its links 29 and In theaccompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a its snaps 28 in proper position forconnection fragmentary plan view of field cover sections as to the linksand snap fasteners of the adjacent placed on a field; Fig. 2 is anenlarged view taken sections. on the line II-II of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aview sim- Rain which is blown or flows in the direction ilar to that ofFig. 2 but showing the overlapping indicated by the arrow of Fig. 2 willbe caught edges of the cover sections in reverse relation in the pleatfold or gutter-like fold space at 3| as compared to Fig. 2, arranged tocatch the and will drain laterally off the canvas. When rain when it isblowing in a direction opposite the wind is in a direction to blow therain in the to the wind direction for which the sections ofdirection-indicated by the arrow of Fig. 3, the,

Fig. 2 are placed; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional 6d :fiap 20 wil1 beplaced upon the flap 2| so that the water will be caught in the fold 32and be drained laterally.

In Figs. 5 and 6, I show a somewhat different arrangement of detachableconnection for the sections 8 and 9. In this arrangement, the pleats I 1have grommets or eyelets 33 therein and the flap-like extensions and 21have eyelets 34,instead of the loops 26 and 21 of Fig. 2 for connectionwith detachable fastening units. In this case, the fastening meanscomprise short lengths of chain 35 having pins Or rods 36 on their endlinks, that will be inserted through the eyelets to make detachableconnections as i common with fasteners of this type.

I claim as my invention:

1. A field cover sheet having a flap-like portion on one end thereof,means for detachably connecting the endmost edge of the flap to anotherflap, along a line spacedbackwardly from the foremost edge of the otherflap, when the first-named flap is in overlying relation to the otherflap, means. for detachably connecting the sheet to the foremost edge ofthe other flap, along a line spaced backwardly of the foremost edge ofthe first-named flap, when the other flap is in overlying relation tothe first-named flap, and gutter-forming means-at the second-named line.2. A field cover sheet having a beaded pleat formed therein adjacent toone end thereof and having a flap portion that extends beyond the pleatand has a bead formed in its extremity, the pleat and head beingfoldable to form a gutter, and elements secured to the sheet at pointsimmediately behind said beads, for detachable connection withsimilarly-formed elements of other sheets.

3. A field cover sheet having a beaded pleat formed therein adjacent toone end thereof, of sufficient depth to serve as a gutter and having aflap portion that extends beyond the pleat and has a bead formed in itsextremity, and elements secured to the sheet at points immediatelybehind said beads, for detachable connection with similarly-formedelements of other sheets, the said means being in the form of grommets.

4. A field cover device comprising a sheet of waterproof material thathas a pleated fold formed therein adjacent to one end portion of thesheet, the said end portion extending beyond the pleat, to serve as aflap, a connectin member on the pleat, means for detachably joining saidmember to a flap-like adjacent end portion of another similarly formedsheet when the second-named end portion is in overlying relation to thefirst-named flap, a connecting member on the outer end of thefirst-named flap, and means for detachably joinin the last-namedconnecting member to a pleat on a complemental sheet when thefirst-named flap is in overlying relation to the second flap.

LOUIS J. SCHULTHEIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,576,888 Woodward Mar. 16, 19261,580,396 Woodward Apr. 13, 1926 2,479,280 Tuerk Aug. 16, 1949 2,493,749Brown, et al Jan. 10, 1950

